East wing of the Big House. This is the oldest wing,
built probably before 1770. In the lower right-hand corner are the bake
ovens.Photo by Finch.

The Postwar Years

The fortunes of Mark Bird slid rapidly downhill after
that. There was a flood on Hay Creek which ruined much of his property,
and then came those postwar depression days when two or three
Continental dollars would hardly buy a crust of bread. The furnace seems
to have been out of operation in 1780 or 1781, for in the latter year
Bird complained to the county that his "tax is too high, part of his
iron work having not gone a long time;" and the tax records show that
from 1782 through 1784, he paid only about one-fourth as much in taxes
on his Hopewell properties as during the years immediately preceding and
following. While 1783 appears to have been a good year from the
standpoint of production, the years following were not. Between April 8
and September 14, 1784, only 196 tons of pig iron and 14-1/2 tons of
finished castings were produced, and in 1785 there is record of only 134
tons of pig iron and 30-1/2 tons of finished castings.

In 1784, making a desperate effort to avoid the
shoals of complete financial shipwreck, he borrowed 200,000 Spanish
milled silver dollars from John Nixon, a wealthy Philadelphia merchant.
The following year, through his brother-in-law, James Wilson, he tried
to obtain from a group of financiers in Holland a long-term loan of
500,000 florin, indicating the value of his vast properties at 750,000
florin. Unsuccessful, his fate was sealed. Two years later, obliged to
satisfy his debt, he assigned all his interests to Nixon. The Hopewell
and Birdsboro properties were advertised for sheriff's sale in April
1788, and Bird moved to North Carolina. A letter written by him from
there in 1807 to the celebrated Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia,
asking for financial assistance of friends (and medical advice from Dr.
Rush for his rheumatism and sciatica) shows to what pathetic straits the
once-powerful ironmaster was reduced. "There is no doubt my principle
ruin was by the Warr & Depretiation," he wrote, and "I promise
myself they [i. e., his friends] will not let me suffer, when they come
to know of my Situation." Dr. Rush noted on the back of the letter:
"Declined Soliciting relief for him as all his friends of 1776 were dead
or reduced." Mark Bird died in comparative poverty. Thus he joined the
long list of other once-powerful Pennsylvania ironmasters who went
bankrupt, a list which, besides his own, included such names as Matthias
Slough, Frederick Delaplank, John Truckenmiller, and Henry William
Stiegel.

Following the failure of Mark Bird, Hopewell passed
into the hands of James Old and Cadwalader Morris, who acquired
two-thirds and one-third interest, respectively. Both were famous
ironmasters. Old was the father-in-law of Robert Coleman, the ironmaster
of Cornwall; and his son, William, married Elizabeth, the daughter of
Henry William Stiegel. In 1790, Cadwalader Morris transferred his
interest to his brother, Benjamin Morris, and in 1791 James Old did
likewise. In 1793, however, deed to the entire property reverted to
James Old, with Benjamin Morris holding the mortgage. The amount of the
mortgage was 8,857 pounds, 14 shillings, and 5 pence, to be paid off in
five annual installments.

Hopewell "Franklin stove," or fireplace, of the
post-Revolutionary period.

For the next few years the furnace operated under the
firm name of James Old & Co. With the youthful Matthew Brooke, who
was appointed manager in 1794, in direct charge, attempts were made to
put it back on a paying basis. Castings, especially stoves and hollow
ware, were in great demand and prices were improving. But despite some
recovery, Old was unable to meet his annual installments. In
consequence, in 1800, he was forced to yield his title through the law
to his creditor, Benjamin Morris, who promptly bought it at a sheriff's
sale. That same year, in August, Morris sold the property for
£10,000 to a partnership composed of Matthew Brooke and his
brother, Thomas Brooke, and their brother-in-law, Daniel Buckley.